My firstborn woke up every 9 hours till 9.5 months. I went back to work at 4 months and change. It was rough but we got through. Babies are babies and each has their own needs. We survived. The newborn / infant time is fleeting. Drink some coffee if you can in the morning and go to bed by 8 pm. This can’t be a time of life for staying up later!

Anonymous wrote:How is this possible???

Waking up every few hours to nurse and/or pump is killing me. I actually felt delirious the other day. I went to grad school while working full time so I understand sleep deprivation but this is ridiculous. How do people do this and still function? Is there a routine or trick to timing feeds?

Please help!

You just survive for the first 8 weeks and then it slowly starts to get better. Hang in there!

Anonymous wrote:Switch to formula so you can start enjoying your sweet baby and look back on this short time fondly instead of miserably! Good luck!

Formula fed babies typically eat every 2-3 hours for the first couple of months.

Anonymous wrote:You get an arms reach cosleeper. Even if you have a pack and play or crib in your bedroom, something about not putting my feet on the floor helped me go back to sleep faster.

Don’t change diapers at night unless it’s poop.

Use something to catch milk in the other breast while you nurse or use a hand pump - get a few ounces and have your partner give one bottle a day. I would sleep 8pm - 12pm/1am with my husband doing one feeding. Getting 4 hours consecutive once a day was the key to feeling functional.

This is good but OP know that the milk you get from using a Haakaa or milk saver is likely foremilk and doesn’t have any hindmilk. This will work but foremilk is the first milk you get out of your breast and won’t have the fat to keep your baby full for very long. I would do a full pump if you plan to do a 4-5 hour stretch or add in a bottle of formula.

How old is your baby?

It’s a lot but no different than formula feeding. I pumped for my first and breastfed my second, but I’ve had many friends who formula fed and their babies fed every 2-3 round the clock in the newborn stage. I was not comfortable co-sleeping and my both my babies slept in the Snoo until we sleep trained at 4 months old.

For first baby:

I pumped every 2 hours for my first baby for two weeks ( baby wouldn’t latch) and it was too much. I switched to pumping every 2 hours during the day and every 3 hours at night, but that was still exhausting, and I switched to pumping every 3 hours at 4 weeks. It was difficult but I think all of that pumping helped create a strong supply. I started having my husband doing 1 pump at night so I could get a 4-5 hour stretch of sleep. I slowly decreased my pumps as my baby started sleeping longer stretches. I pumped until 6 months and fed frozen milk and formula.

For second baby:

I breastfed every 2 hours around the clock for the first 4 weeks. My baby started sleeping 4-5 hour stretches at 4 weeks and I didn’t wake up to pump. I did feed every 2 hours during the day and fed him when he woke up at night. I pumped at night before bed to empty my breasts. I breastfed until 6 months and then fed frozen milk and formula.

I’m glad breastfeeding worked out with my second baby because I don’t think I would have been able to pump and take care of a baby and toddler.

I pumped with my first and breastfed for the first 4 weeks to create a strong supply and then started sleeping 4-5 hour stretches. I would pump once a day or give 1 bottle of formula a day so you can get some sleep at night. I used to fully pump until empty and then sleep 4-5 hours until my baby woke up to eat again. You can pump or switch over to formula if you want your husband to feed the baby.

It’s awful. I didn’t do well with sleep deprivation. Thankfully though it passes and you will survive this!

Anonymous wrote:You get an arms reach cosleeper. Even if you have a pack and play or crib in your bedroom, something about not putting my feet on the floor helped me go back to sleep faster.

Don’t change diapers at night unless it’s poop.

Use something to catch milk in the other breast while you nurse or use a hand pump - get a few ounces and have your partner give one bottle a day. I would sleep 8pm - 12pm/1am with my husband doing one feeding. Getting 4 hours consecutive once a day was the key to feeling functional.

+1. All of this.

Switch to formula so you can start enjoying your sweet baby and look back on this short time fondly instead of miserably! Good luck!

I thought there must be a trick I was missing at first too, but there isn't it's just pure hell. That said, every 3 hours is actually a really long time for a newborn. I was on every 2 hours all night (meaning I slept in like 1 hour, 15 minute increments) for a couple weeks at least. I had a ton of help at night from my husband and my mom, but it was still so beyond miserable I don't have words. Before having a newborn I didn't know it was physically possible to be that sleep deprived.

Both my kids loved night nursing, hated Ferber, and didn’t get the memo that they were supposed to sleep 12 hours solid and be ready to wean at a year. Eventually I realized that fighting them off at night when they wanted to
Nurse was infinitely harder than just letting them nurse and go back to sleep. (Also, some of nursing is comfort, it’s not just food.) That was what got everyone the most sleep and created the least conflict in my marriage, so that’s what we did. Baby started night off in the crib and then once we were asleep and they woke up I just brought them into bed. And I gotta admit, those baby snuggles and cuddles were precious and priceless even in my bleary sleep deprived state. I used Sposie night diaper liners and only changed the poops. Co sleeping and coffee got me through. Also going to bed early and making partner do night dishes/clean up so I could log a longer stretch of sleep since I was the one getting up. Sniff your baby’s heart and enjoy the snuggle, they will be grown soon enough.

It’s awful. For me it became tolerable around 4 weeks when I could start getting a 5 hr stretch. It improves and gets way more manageable. But total torture starting up.